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nsions with the staff . For many, the main problem here is the ominent failure of the program to deliver on its ostensible promise; permanent Job.
As they move on, the casualties leave behind in the program many uths who possess relatively little in the way of personal or social ills that will enable them to participate effectively in a job-aining program. They leave behind those who are not so highly tivated, those with limited options, and the new recruits. Many rticipants are so poor they have hardly enough food to eat or even a liable residence? alcohol and drugs are also persistent problems for me.
Program directors might then complain that the pool they now have nsists of too many "mental defectives, drug addicts, ex-cons, retarded ople, illiterates." Such viewsf not only among staff but also among mmunity people and prospective trainees, contribute to the stigmatiza-on of the program and ultimately to its ineffectiveness«
Values
The generalized American belief in "pulling yourself up by your own otstraps" appears at times to work against the credibility of vernment-sponsored job-training programs. Strikingly, "working for a ving," the "bootstrap" ideal, and the avoidance of "government ndouts" represent values that many black and other minority Americans are with others (see Hershberg, 1981). Many youths would like thing better than to realize this ideal, and they work very hard at hieving it.
When such highly motivated youths become involved with a job-aining program, they often attain a measure of success. In their asses, they achieve outstanding records. Highly motivated to cceed, such individuals are imbued with self-confidence and a sitive outlook, despite the distrust and discrimination they counter. They appear to emerge from a family and social background at, while financially poor, places much emphasis on self-discipline, If-esteem, and a strong belief in the "work ethic." As they gotiate the training program, they very favorably impress their achers. When the teachers learn of openings, they do not hesitate to commend such youths for Jobs, It is for these individuals that the ogram seems most effective. They tend to obtain Jobs and move on to gotiate certain areas of the occupational structure. But such dividuals, emerging äs they do from backgrounds of poverty and scrimination, tend to be rare.
An irnportant policy issue for those interested in increasing the fectiveness of youth employment programs is that of how to instill e attitudes and behavior patterns of successful individuals into her trainees. This would require serious and effective training ssions devoted to discipline and motivation. But there must also be me change in the attitudes of staff people who seem to expect too ttle from minority youth. Youth employment programs need effective achers who possess the sophisticated knack for discerning theg the program. But when they fail to achieve this goal, serious, and perhaps more intelligent, youths—those with a cle of options—move on, wanting no longer to tolerate the "abuse"ecause of their inability to make visible "progress," become disgusted with for granted and to value. It may appear to hiies to get other people to do their Jobs. As Taggart can testify, this is devilishly difficult work for which few people are equipped by experience or training. The more complex the system of administrative relationships, the more skill required to manage it, and the less uniform one can expect the results to be.temmed directly from Strategie decisions about the purposes of knowledge development and tcess that in the absence of such a strategy and mechanism, we believe \t several years from now the nation will find itself with severalrom past experiences that may avoid the repetition of pastmistakes. Since, however, the problems persist, we are coin of the Department of Labor, who was at the National Research Council äs a visiting scholar during our study, provided continuing advice and guidance to the committee and staff on the basis of his long and thoughtful experience with employment and training programs. Several committee members and staff met with staff members of two other organizations that had been involved in reviews of YEDPA program effectiveness: Andrew Hahn and Robert Lerman of Brandeis University and Linda Cole,